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Saturday, June 11, 2011

Driving in Merida

I was thinking about doing a post about what it is like to drive inside the city of Merida. Then I came across this video today and thought, "Why bother writing. I'll just post this." This is sometimes what you see here. Enjoy!

The thing I like most about driving in Mexico is the roundabouts. Instead of a streetlight at every major intersection you have interspersed among them Glorietas. This means less waiting on lights to change. One of the things I like least about driving here......the roundabouts. Bitter-sweet. Roundabouts (Glorietas) may have as many as ten entry and exit points with the potential for pedestrians to cross at each street.

People sometimes want to merge prematurely into your lane so you have to drive defensively at all times. People rarely use their blinkers here to indicate lane changes. Also, motorcycles and mopeds weave between cars on both roads and at intersections while cars are stopped. They also will try and pass moving traffic between you and the curb. Very unwise yet they do it all the time.

My advice when driving....pay attention and never assume that those around you are. Drive cautiously and drive slower. My wife and I talk less when driving here because of the risk of distraction. Pedestrians have the right-of-way at crosswalks on major roads so you have to watch for them as well.